MC Yearly Consensus - 1931

[Kurosawa Fan]

Submit your five favorite films from this year and in a week I will give you a top ten. IMDb dates will be used.

The point system is as follows

1st Place-5 points
2nd Place-4 points
3rd Place-3.5 points
4th Place-3 points
5th Place-2.5 points

There will be no restrictions on short films. A minimum of three films must be listed. You may edit your post freely up until the time that the voting is closed, which will be in about a week. I will give at least 24 hours warning before tallying votes.

You may begin now.

IMDB Power Search (http://www.imdb.com/list)

[Kurosawa Fan]

I believe this completes the project.

[Kurosawa Fan]

1. City Lights
2. M
3. Frankenstein
4. Tabu: A Story of the South Seas

[baby doll]

1. M (Fritz Lang)
2. City Lights: A Comedy Romance in Pantomime (Charles Chaplin)
3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian)
4. La Chienne (Jean Renoir)
5. Dishonored (Josef von Sternberg)

[Yxklyx]

1. M (Fritz Lang)
2. La Chienne (Jean Renoir)
3. Le Million (René Clair)
4. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Rouben Mamoulian)
5. Frankenstein (James Whale)

6. City Lights (Charles Chaplin)
7. Marius (Alexander Korda & Marcel Pagnol)
8. The Public Enemy (William A. Wellman)
9. À nous la liberté (René Clair)
10. Little Caesar (Mervyn LeRoy)

[Pop Trash]

1. City Lights
2. Frankenstein
3. The Public Enemy
4. Madchen in Uniform
5. Dracula

I need to re-watch M.

[Pop Trash]

I believe this completes the project.
Isn't Spinal doing 2006 and 2007?

[Kurosawa Fan]

Isn't Spinal doing 2006 and 2007?

Ah. That's probably correct. I was looking backward and noticed that the 20's and prior had already been covered.

[Russ]

1. City Lights
2. Frankenstein
3. M
4. Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde
5. Dracula

[Philosophe_rouge]

1. City Lights
2. M
3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
4. Frankenstein
5. The Public Enemy

[Derek]

1. City Lights (Charles Chaplin)
2. M (Fritz Lang)
3. An American Tragedy (Josef von Sternberg)
4. A Nous la Liberte (Rene Clair)
5. Le Million (Rene Clair)

HMs: Tabu: A Tale of the South Seas (F.W. Murnau), The Smiling Lieutenant (Ernst Lubitsch), Frankenstein (James Whale)

[Grouchy]

1. M
2. Frankenstein
3. Monkey Business

[ledfloyd]

1. City Lights
2. M
3. Dracula
4. Monkey Business
5. The Public Enemy

HM: The Smiling Lieutenant, Frankenstein

[origami_mustache]

1. City Lights
2. The Public Enemy
3. M
4. Frankenstein
5. Little Caesar

HM:
Monkey Business
Dracula

[monolith94]

1. Tabu: A Story of the South Seas
2. Dracula
3. City Lights
4. M
5. Frankenstein

[The Mike]

1. Frankenstein
2. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
3. M
4. The Champ
5. Mata Hari

HM: Dracula

Need to see: Cimarron, The Maltese Falcon

[Mysterious Dude]

1. M
2. City Lights
3. The Peach Girl
4. Madchen in Uniform
5. The Public Enemy

[Lazlo]

1. M
2. City Lights
3. Frankenstein

[Spinal]

1. M
2. Tabu
3. City Lights

[Spinal]

Isn't Spinal doing 2006 and 2007?

2006 ... yes.

And I'll do 2007 as well unless people think it's too early to cover that year.

[Pop Trash]

2006 ... yes.

And I'll do 2007 as well unless people think it's too early to cover that year.
I think it'll be interesting to see what gets in now that the dust as settled a bit. Although, I'm willing to bet $$$ that I know what will be one and two for 2007.

[soitgoes...]

1. M (Fritz Lang)
2. Le Million (René Clair)
3. City Lights (Charles Chaplin)
4. The Public Enemy (William A. Wellman)
5. La Chienne (Jean Renoir)
----------------------------------------------------
6. Kameradschaft (Georg Wilhelm Pabst)
7. Frankenstein (James Whale)
8. Working on the Duoro River (Manoel de Oliveira)
9. Tabu: A Story of the South Seas (F.W. Murnau)

I will probably be watching La Chienne tonight, and as I am a Renoir fanboy I completely expect it to place towards the top of the year.

[Boner M]

1. M
2. City Lights
3. The Public Enemy
4. Frankenstein

[Raiders]

1. City Lights (Chaplin)
2. M (Lang)
3. La chienne (Renoir)
4. Frankenstein (Whale)
5. Tabu (Murnau)

----------------------------

6. A nous la liberte (Clair)
7. The Public Enemy (Wellman)
8. Monkey Business (McLeod)

[Melville]

1. City Lights
2. M
3. The Public Enemy

[soitgoes...]

Edited in La Chienne.

[Gizmo]

1. City Lights
2. M
3. Monkey Business

[Kurosawa Fan]

I need to get this done today. I have a busy weekend (son's birthday, complete with annoying party at Chuck E Cheese). Any more ballots? I'll keep it open until noon ET and then start tabulating.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Took a little longer than I thought it would, but I'm tabulating as we speak. Consider this closed.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Wow. We have a real top ten! That was unexpected.

[Kurosawa Fan]

#9 (TIE)
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/monkeybusiness.jpg
Monkey Business
Norman Z. McLeod


On a transatlantic crossing, the Marx brothers get up to their usual antics and manage to annoy just about everyone on board the ship.

The first Marx Brothers film written especially for the screen. Except in the credits, the Brothers' characters have no names in this movie. They are referred to only as "the stowaways". The first Marx Brothers film not to feature Margaret Dumont. It was felt she was not "sexy" enough for the part.

"The first in the troupe's startling run of dense, anarchic comedies, it coincided with the heart of the Depression (which made Groucho himself temporarily destitute) and arrived not long after the death of the Marx matriarch, Minnie. It's almost as though the twin indignities of financial ruin and personal tragedy, then, unleashed the Marx boys to plough new ground and assert themselves on the silver screen in the same way they had on stage." - Walter Chaw

[Kurosawa Fan]

#9 (TIE)
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/lemillion.jpg
Le Million
Rene Clair


An impoverished painter and his rival engage in a race across Paris to recover a jacket concealing a winning lottery ticket.

The story was adapted by Clair from a play by Georges Berr and Marcel Guillemand.

"These characters and setups are straight out of silent films, and they don't depend on culture or language. The jokes people remember the film for, however, could never happen in a silent film. But they're still not dependent on language. Instead, they're innovative uses of the soundtrack that would seem fresh if used today." - Matthew Dessem

[Kurosawa Fan]

#8
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/dracula.jpg
Dracula
Tod Browning


The ancient vampire Count Dracula arrives in England and begins to prey upon the virtuous young Mina.

When this film was re-released after the Production Code was strictly enforced in 1934, several deletions were ordered made to the soundtrack. The deletions include Renfield's scream as he is being killed and Dracula's moan as the stake is driven through his heart. These deletions have been restored. A Spanish-language version, Drácula (1931), was filmed at night on the same set at the same time, with Spanish-speaking actors.

"There is a moment, though, when Lugosi draws close to the sleeping Lucy, and all of the elements of the material draw together. We consider the dreadful trade-off: immortality, but as a vampire. From our point of view, Dracula is committing an unspeakable crime. From his, offering an unspeakable gift." - Roger Ebert

[Kurosawa Fan]

#7
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/lachienne.jpg
La Chienne
Jean Renoir


Cashier Maurice Legrand is married to Adele, a terror. By chance, he meets Lucienne, "Lulu", and make her his mistress. He thinks he finally met love, but Lulu is not what she seems.

Jean Renoir's first sound film. In order to change her own "over-refined" accent into that of a low class girl, Renoir made Marese imitate Maurice Chevalier.

"Very cleverly made and beautifully acted. Unseemly title is hardly flavored enough to come up to the story, which was staged from the novel of the same name by Georges de la Fouchardiere at the Renaissance, a legit stand that specializes in sensational plays. The title word is meant to apply to a prostitute who drags down a man, and the story, sordid in itself, is shown in every sordid detail relating to each one of the principals - the prostitute, her man and the sucker." - Variety Staff, 1931

[Kurosawa Fan]

#6
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/Tabu.jpg
Tabu: A Story of the South Seas
F.W. Murnau


In one island of Bora Bora lagoon, a young fisherman, Matahi, is in love with Reri. But she is chosen to be the holy maid and therefore becomes "tabu". They run away from that tradition, hoping to be happier and luckier in the more "civilized" society.

Originally conceived as a co-venture with documentarian Robert J. Flaherty. As work on the project progressed, it became increasingly clear to Flaherty that F.W. Murnau did not adapt well to co-directing and that he was being squeezed off the film. A factor helping Murnau in this was that he was one of the chief financiers. Murnau died in a car accident a few days after starting work on the music for this film. The film had its New York premiere a week later.

"Tabu is one of the last great silent films; this kind of innocent romanticism, non-verbal characterisation, and unhurried delight in the visual were perhaps harder to carry off once film narrative shackled itself to dialogue." - Peter Momtchiloff

[dreamdead]

My goals for next year filmwise: get to Murnau's Faust and Tabu, and get in-depth on Renoir and Rene Clair (I've seen two and one of their films respectively)... so these lists are gold to me getting on my way.

[Kurosawa Fan]

#5
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/drjekyll.jpg
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Rouben Mamoulian


Dr. Jekyll faces horrible consequences when he lets his dark side run wild with a potion that changes him into the animalistic Mr. Hyde.

The remarkable Jekyll-to-Hyde transition scenes in this film were accomplished by manipulating a series of filters in front of the camera lens, filters which alternately revealed and obscured portions of Fredric March's Hyde makeup. During the first transformation scene, the accompanying noises on the soundtrack included portions of Bach, a gong being played backwards, and, reportedly, a recording of director Rouben Mamoulian's own heart. The heavy make up he wore as Hyde almost damaged Fredric March's face.

"The dynamic and sadistic Mr. Hyde adds unexpected black comedy to his character. Insulting encounters with strangers and waiters are entertaining, and you never know what he'll do next. Lengthy scenes having him torment pathetic showgirl Ivy (Miriam Hopkins) are both chilling and diabolically humorous." - Brian Koller

[Kurosawa Fan]

#4
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/Publicenemy.jpg
The Public Enemy
William A. Wellman


A young hoodlum rises up through the ranks of the Chicago underworld, even as a gangster's accidental death threatens to spark a bloody mob war.

Edward Woods was originally hired for the lead role of Tom Powers and James Cagney was hired to play Matt Doyle, his friend. However, once director William A. Wellman got to know both of them and saw Cagney in rehearsals, he realized that Cagney would be far more effective in the star role than Woods, so he switched them. Because of the famous grapefruit scene, for years afterward when dining in restaurants, fellow patrons would send grapefruit to actor James Cagney, which - almost invariably - James Cagney would happily eat. It also caused women's groups around America to protest the on-screen abuse of Mae Clarke.

"Although the crook that Cagney plays here has a definite thuggish cool, he's repeatedly shown to be such a thickheaded animal that he doesn't register as much of an antihero (the only thing helping him is that none of the other characters register much in the way of personality, either). He's the kind of overzealous idiot gunman who Bogart would have mocked relentlessly in The Big Sleep." - Chris Barsanti

[Kurosawa Fan]

#3
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/frankenstein.jpg
Frankenstein
James Whale


Horror classic in which an obsessed scientist assembles a living being from parts of exhumed corpses.

After bringing the monster to life, Dr. Frankenstein uttered the famous line, "Now I know what it's like to BE God!" The movie was originally released with this line of dialogue, but when it was re-released in the late '30s, censors demanded it be removed on the grounds that it was blasphemy. A loud clap of thunder was substituted on the soundtrack. The dialogue was partially restored on the video release, but since no decent recording of the dialogue could be found, it still appeared garbled and indistinct. A clean recording of the missing dialog was reportedly found on a Vitaphone disc (similar to a large phonograph record). Modern audio technology had to be used to insert the dialog back into the film without any detectable change in the audio quality.

"Karloff makes the monster both fearsome and tender. In many ways, he is sympathetic - a sad creature who has been rejected by his creator and is left to discover the world's cruelties on his own. The scene with Maria, the little girl by the pond, is a case in point. These two share a gentle bond - she doesn't fear him. His smile is heartbreakingly poignant. When he inadvertently drowns Maria, her death is not the result of any innate savagery on his part, but because he fails to understand that all delicate, beautiful things cannot float." - Teh Berardinelli

[Kurosawa Fan]

#2
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/citylights.jpg
City Lights
Charles Chaplin


A tramp falls in love with a beautiful blind girl. Her family is in financial trouble. The tramp's on-and-off friendship with a wealthy man gives him the opportunity to be the girl's benefactor and suitor.

Charles Chaplin re-shot the scene in which the Little Tramp buys a flower from the blind flower-girl 342 times, as he could not find a satisfactory way of showing that the blind flower-girl thought that the mute tramp was wealthy. Charles Chaplin's first film made during the sound era. He faced extreme pressure to make the film as a talkie, but such was his popularity and power in Hollywood that he was able to complete and release the film as a silent (albeit with recorded music) at a time when the rest of the American motion picture industry had converted to sound.

"Chaplin was a master of the small touch, the delayed reaction. Consider the moment when he goes to the blind girl's house to give her the money for an eye operation. He has prudently stashed $100 in his pocket for his own needs, but after she kisses his hand he shrugs, reaches in his pocket, and gives her the final bill." - Roger Ebert

[Kurosawa Fan]

#1
http://i36.photobucket.com/albums/e4/mike3245/m.jpg
M
Fritz Lang


When the police in a German city are unable to catch a child-murderer, other criminals join in the manhunt.

Peter Lorre was Jewish and fled Germany in fear of Nazi persecution shortly after the movie's release. Fritz Lang, who was half Jewish, fled two years later. Contrary to popular belief, Fritz Lang did not change the title from "The Murderers are Among Us" to "M" due to fear of persecution by the Nazis. He changed the title during filming, influenced by the scene where one of the criminals writes the letter on his hand. Lang thought "M" was a more interesting title.

"It is regrettable that such a wealth of talent and imaginative direction was not put into some other story, for the actions of this Murderer, even though they are left to the imagination are too hideous to contemplate." - M.H., N.Y. Times, 1933

[Kurosawa Fan]

Final Results:

1. M - 81.5
2. City Lights - 76.5
3. Frankenstein - 41
4. The Public Enemy - 25
5. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde - 17
6. Tabu: A Story of the South Seas - 14.5
7. La Chienne - 13
8. Dracula - 12.5
9. Le Million - 10
9. Monkey Business - 10

Next closest film, even though it wouldn't qualify:

Madchen in Uniform - 6